Hamilton: More than a month in, Stanislaus District coaches, athletes couldn’t be happier
How good does it feel to have sports again?
I wasn’t here when everything went south about 16 months ago, but coaches, players and fans have told me that just having games, practices and a regular season has brought a sense of normalcy to what has been happening all around us.
There have been hiccups so far. COVID-19 protocols have caused cancellations and postponements but hats off to all of the programs for adjusting and making the best of the circumstances and keeping everything moving forward.
Now, here’s what you came for. Let’s take a look at what’s happened in the first few weeks of the football season.
There are seven undefeated teams left in the area. Three, Manteca (5-0), Oakdale (4-0) and Kimball (4-0), are in the Valley Oak League, maintaining its reputation as the most competitive league in the Stanislaus District. Also sitting atop the VOL, 3-1 Central Catholic, which picked up a key victory in the annual Holy Bowl over St. Mary’s, 41-27.
Other undefeated teams in the Stanislaus District are: Enochs (4-0), Davis (4-0), Hilmar (5-0) and Waterford (4-0).
Here are some standout performances readers voted on from the first few weeks:
- Jacob Guevarra, QB, Patterson: completed 12 of 15 passes for 194 yards and five touchdowns; rushed for 37 yards and one touchdown
- Broc Perry, LB, Hilmar: 16 tackles, nine solo and one for a loss
- JT Foreman, RB, Turlock: 24 carries for 174 yards and two touchdowns
- Aiden Taylor, RB, Central Catholic: 22 carries, 131 yards and four touchdowns
- Javier Nusom, WR, Waterford: 6 catches, 114 yards and three touchdowns
Coaches, if you want to nominate male or female athletes for prep of the week, email qhamilton@modbee.com or DM me on Twitter @quade1095.
Oakdale and Central Catholic get their fair share of talk during the season, but there are a lot of talented teams in the Stanislaus District. Take a look at the first edition of the area’s Top 10, and be on the lookout for updates every Monday.
Cal-Hi Sports puts out state rankings every week and teams in the area have been getting their share of notoriety. Manteca is one of the teams that has remained on the bubble, sitting just outside the Top 50, for almost the entire season. They are still looking for that one big win to break that barrier.
Central Catholic broke into the Top 50 after beating two Top 35 teams in the state. First was St. Mary’s, which was ranked 31st at the time. With that Holy Bowl victory, the Raiders went from unranked to 46th. They jumped again, to 35th, after beating 30th ranked San Ramon Valley.
One school that has consistently been left out of the CalHi Sports Top 50 is Oakdale. They have blown out every team they have faced and it’s about time the rankings sites showed them some love.
Volleyball talent throughout the district
MaxPreps updates its Sac-Joaquin Section volleyball rankings every week and the Stanislaus District has been well-represented in every version.
No. 5 Escalon (15-1), No. 12 Ripon Christian (19-3) and No. 21 Pitman (10-6) are all in the section’s Top 25.
One team that could break in is No. 38 Downey (18-6), which won one of the best matches played this season, a a five-set thrilling victory over the Pride. The match had it all – outstanding performances by players on both sides, a comeback from a two-set deficit by Pitman and Downey overcoming the emotional baggage of losing a two-set lead by pushing through to win the fifth set.
Upcoming matches to go out and see:
9/28 Turlock at Pitman, 6 p.m.
9/28 Downey at Gregori, 7 p.m.
9/30 Escalon at Hilmar, 6 p.m.
10/7 Ripon Christian at Ripon, 6:30 p.m.
10/11 Oakdale at Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Big performances at Frogtown
Bret Harte High School hosted one of the largest cross country events in the area, the Frogtown Invitational, on Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds.
Here are the Stanislaus District Top Varsity Performers:
Boys 3-Mile Varsity Small School: Oakdale won with a score of 46. Ripon (145) finished fourth and Central Catholic sixth (199).
Oakdale juniors Dax Daley (16 minutes, 7 seconds) and Caleb Cavanaugh (16:37) finished second and third.
Girls 3-Mile Varsity Small School: Oakdale and Ripon finished first and second with team scores of 28 and 69, respectively. Central Catholic (192) finished seventh.
Senior Haleigh Himble (19:14) of Oakdale finished first and Ripon junior Annie Wild (20:15) finished fifth.
Boys 3-Mile Varsity Large School: Pitman came in second with a score of 130.
Seniors Damian Garcia (16:12) and Efren Sanchez (16:43) finished in second and fourth, respectively.
Girls 3-Mile Varsity Large School: Pitman finished with the fifth most points scored, 175.
For full results from the Frogtown Invitational, click here.
MJC football standing tall
The Modesto Junior College football team came into the season ranked fourth in the state and have played two close games to start the season.
Before its most recent game, MJC found out that an alum, devensive lineman Antonio Pule, earned the start at Washington State University in its game against USC.
After Saturday’s loss to City College of San Francisco, MJC dropped nine spots in the JC Athletic Bureau Coaches Football Poll from fourth to 15th.
They will have tough contests in the next two weeks. First they travel to Butte (2-1) on Sept. 25, then they play at San Mateo (2-0), a team they lost to in the 2019 Northern California Championship, on Oct. 2.
The Pirates start conference play with their homecoming game Oct. 16 against West Hills Coalinga.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
